Stephen Brown, 72, taken into police custody on Monday

Authorities in Santa Cruz say a 72-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly threatening to kill a Democratic congressman by bombing the government building where one of his district offices is located.

Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Department Deputy April Skalland said Stephen Brown was arrested on Monday, several hours after he allegedly made the threats involving Rep. Sam Farr.

The sheriff's department says Brown visited Farr's office inside the Santa Cruz County government building on Monday and told an aide who rebuffed his invitation to lunch that he would wait for the congressman and blow up the county building.

Brown was arrested at a military recruiting station in nearby Capitola a few hours later.

The sheriff's department described Brown as a transient and says it has no reason to think he was actually planning to harm Farr.